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Topic: To Gouda...with Love (Read 20326 times)

First real job I ever had was in a Greek place that made an awesome pie. They used 40% mozz, 40% white cheddar and 20% jack. Really good taste and look. Cooked in a deck oven using seasoned round steel pans, dough made daily for use 2 days later. Dough rose in pans, and when nearly done the pie was pulled out of the pan and cooked directly on the deck. I still do the same thing when I'm making Greek style.

In RE's case, he may find that he is able to use the Gouda cheese in a blend that is heavier on a cheese like the mozzarella cheese even though the flavor of the Gouda cheese does not come through loud and clear. However, the blend should still have a unique and pleasant flavor and be distinguishable from a taste standpoint from just the mozzarella cheese. Otherwise, there would be no point spending more money on the Gouda cheese. With some simple cheese blend tests using Gouda cheese, I would think that RE should be able to come up with something that meets his needs.

Exactly Pete. The Oakdale Cheese Factory is a popular tourist destination and a point of pride in our community. Utilizing gouda and a menu tie-in to OCF might give us yet another edge over the chains in town. . . even though the taste might be negligible.

Today, I baked five pizzas using smoked, Mediterranean, and regular gouda. Unfortunately, my mozz was a part-skim I was experimenting with instead of my favored Trader Joes whole milk mozz, so I had too many variables. A couple of regular taste testers did not like the cheese blend as well. I had been using a 60-30-10 blend of Mozz, Prov, and Sharp white cheddar. I replaced the Cheddar with the gouda but the new blend lacked a "kick" and a "tang" described by the tasters. New taste testers loved their pizza, however, with several asking how soon we would be opening.

I'm baking 10 pies this weekend for a couple of public events and will try a 60-20-10-10 blend M-P-G-C and go back to the top-ranked Trader Joes Mozzarella, as well.

buceriasdon

Corey, Although imported cheese is expensive here in my area of Mexico, I had a chance to purchase some Mediterranean gouda awhile back. At least with the sample I tasted, it was a Dutch gouda, of course, with bits of choppped olives, sundried tomatoes, oregano, and just a bit of garlic flavor.

It's quite a different animal than straight gouda. It's very powerful and a little goes a long way. Strong on garlic initially, then the sundried tomato brightens the pallet, and the finish very tangy, slightly bitter. That's uncooked, right off the round. Leaves one with a good case of "dragon breath".

I used 50g or about 15% mixed-in to my cheese blend for an 18" New Yorked Margherita and most, if not all of these properties were absent.

The best setting for this cheese would be one or two small pieces with a cracker and a glass of wine. Definitely worth ordering from the Oakdale Cheese Factory . . . but I'm not sure I can find a permanent home for it on my pizzas--maybe a Greek inspired pizza . . .

Oh, I had no idea that the Mediterranean cheese had stuff mixed into it, I thought that it may just be made with a different strain of bacteria or something. I bet that would be great though. I sampled a cheese not too long ago that had hatch chiles mixed in and the flavor was amazing. I can only imagine sun dried tomatoes, olives and garlic. Some of my favorite things.

I used this recipe this week, but used Walla Walla Sweet Onions that had been slow cooked and caramelized, instead of using Red Onions. The Pizza was fantastic. I have found that the Stubbs BBQ sauce (Original flavor) works the best over other sauces that i have tried. Also, I use my Pizza dough made with beer. ENJOY!!!

(in a separate glass)9 ounces of beer (beer of your choice, but do not use Stout Beers)

Mix all ingredients and knead for 10 mins. (add more beer if your dough is too dry during the kneading process)Coat the finished dough ball with Extra virgin olive oil and place in zip lock bag. (One Gallon Size bag)Place the bag in the Fridge for 24 hours. Recipe makes enough for three 14" pizzas (Obviously, divide the large dough ball into three smaller dough balls after it rises for 24 hours )

Let the cold dough warm up a little bit to room temperature (or close to it). Then, I press the dough out by hand and cook them on a 14" pizza screen at 425 degrees for 15 minutes (oven is a standard home oven with a heating element and be sure to preheat your oven)

Here is my gouda pizza, It was ok gooda. I shredded smoked gouda cheese and mixed it with equal percent shredded mozzarella, it tasted 100% gouda. Next time I will try 10% gouda. It melted very nicely.

Is the gouda y'all are buying truly smoked, or is the the processed kind? I think the only kind I've had is the Hoffman brand from Walmart that's a processed cheese and it's pretty good.

Have you tried to melt it? I bought some smoked gouda a while back that actually tasted really good just cutting it up and eating with crackers. But then I tried to melt the stuff and it wouldn't really melt. It just got kind of soft and blob-like. I looked at the label and noticed that it was processed cheese. I don't remember the brand.

Yeah I put it on a liverwurst sandwich I made a while back, and when I toasted it in a pan to get the sandwich hot it melted up pretty well and didn't separate. The block is really soft too, almost the texture of American cheese when it's cold.